The US Department of State annual report about the status of freedom of religion claims that the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Amar “has deleted years of progress in terms of easing restrictions on conversions into Judaism and expanding the concept of Judaism.” The report critiques the monopoly held by the Orthodox stream of Judaism in controlling marital status in Israel. According to the report, approximately 360 thousand immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union are not recognized as Jews and therefore cannot get married, divorced, or buried in Israel.

The status of approximately 40,000 people who were converted in the special, state-run conversion tribunals is up in the air. (Hebrew)

About Us

These are translations of items from the Hebrew Slippery Slope blog, which documents the decline of Israeli democracy. The Slope collects isolated incidents, which together draw the picture of a crumbling democracy – violation of human rights, bad governance, corruption, and police brutality. The various news media report these incidents; we connect the dots.

Translations were provided by a team of volunteers. Links in the posts often point only to the original Hebrew sources, unless an equivalent English source is available. Read more